Three ringers, one winger


    Last entry, I challenged readers to identify the real Hino or Hinos among a group of Cuban trucks all wearing the winged emblem of the Japanese manufacturer (to see the quiz, click here).

    The answers:

     Truck C: Nope. The styling has a bit of a Japanese look, and the cabover design certainly is in keeping with modern Hinos. But this blue hauler is a product of Czech manufacturer Avia. Founded in 1919 as an aircraft and engine builder, Avia expanded to trucks after the Second World War. Smart-looking and practical, this is an Avia A31. The model was introduced in 1983 as an update to the Avia A30, itself a variant of the Renault-Saviem SG-4 Super Galion built under licence.Avia was taken over by Korea's now-defunct Daewoo in 1995 and today is a unit of India's Ashok Leyland.


    Truck A: Nope again. I saw this compact school bus in Havana. I'm not certain of its make (though I know it's no Hino) but I suspect it's a Girón VI, from a factory in Cuba that built buses under licence from Ikarus of Hungary between the 1970s and 1990s. If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will tell me.



   Truck D: You didn't think this was a Hino, did you? North Americans might look at that face and think International Harvester. Truck-watchers from other parts of the world, however, will know this well-turned-out dump truck is a Russian ZIL 130. Some 3.4 million 130s were built at a factory near Moscow between 1964 and the 1990s. Like a larger Toyota pickup, the ZIL 130 is renowned for being nearly indestructible. It's a common sight across Cuba.


     Truck B: Hello Hino! Yes, as a reader points out, this one looks Russian, not Japanese. Or maybe a fairly recent issue from KrAZ, maker of bruiser trucks in Ukraine. But it's all Hino, and appears similar to this Hino EB300 in the Philippines (asking price: 280,000 pesos, the equivalent of $6,661.67 Cdn.). I'm thinking it dates from the 1970s. I'm also thinking that Philippines Hino is one KrAZy deal.

Comments

paul said…
Hi,Rob--as you can see I'm finally using my name in the comments. Now to speak: I just saw your post about the IFA W50 you mistook for a Hino. Well,I did the same thing with the Avia--it looked like the emblem belonged there (not like on the Zil and the Giron). I was deceived by the appearance of the real Hino--it resembled a KrAZ from an earlier post.Anyway,keep up the good work. Signed, "a reader" (haha)
November 6, 2011 at 5:21 PM
Caristas said…
Thanks Paul. I was fooled by the Avia too (as well as by the IFA). Both look like they SHOULD be Hinos. Took some sussing to ID the Avia, I can tell you.
November 8, 2011 at 8:37 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Discovered in Cuba, a rare Mercedes bird

Image
(December 2012 note: See update link, below.)     GUESS I'LL have to set aside my search for the younger Batista’s 1956 Corvette. An even tastier trophy has emerged – a Mercedes-Benz 300SL, better known as the Gullwing.    Even on the Island of Surprises, I’d be astounded to come across one of these rare beauties. But in a brief section on Cuba in Automobiles Lost & Found (Haynes Publishing, 2008), I see a photo of a battered 300SL observed by author Michael E. Ware outside a private garage near Havana.    The Gullwing, unmistakable lift-up doors in place, is dented and rusting and missing its engine, yet still would be prized by collectors the world over . . . if only they could extract it from Cuba. Restored, the Silver Metallic example with Lipstick Red interior might be worth more than $700,000 U.S.    Reached in England, Mr. Ware tells me he was holidaying in Cuba when an acquaintance brought him to an unnamed community to see the car.    “I never asked whe
Read more

The Cuba Gullwing chronology

Image
How the 300SL would have looked new. Wikipedia photo.     IN SIX YEARS , no topic here has drawn more attention than the story of Cuba's rotting Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe. Visitors from around the world seem endlessly appalled and fascinated by the sad fate of such a rare and beautiful car.      The same analytics program that tells me the home nations of these visitors tells me where on this blog they land – and it's apparent that many are missing the full story (or as full as anyone has been able to make it). The world's largest Internet indexer – you know who I'm talking about – insists on routing the curious to a five-year post and refuses to make note of subsequent entries.    Why? Who knows?     To provide a more complete picture, here's a list of CARISTAS entries on the Gullwing, which, to be clear, was first brought to the world's attention by British auto historian Michael E. Ware in Automobiles Lost & Found (Haynes Publishing, 20
Read more